India welcomes Germany's visa-free transit for Indian travellers

India on Tuesday welcomed Germany's decision to operationalise visa-free transit for Indian nationals passing through German airports, saying this new arrangement would further enhance people-to-people ties. 

“We welcome the operationalisation by Germany of the annoucement waiving requirement of transit visa for Indian nationals transiting through Germany, exclusively by air, with effect from June 3," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) wrote on X.

"The announcement was made after discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chancellor Friedrich Merz during the latter's visit to India in January 2026," the MEA added.

According to MEA, this new arrangement would further enhance people-to-people ties between India and Germany.

Earlier on Tuesday, the German Embassy in New Delhi announced that Indian nationals will no longer require a transit visa when travelling to another country with a layover at a German airport.

"The lifting of the so-called airport transit visa requirement for Indian citizens was announced in the Federal Law Gazette (Bundesgesetzblatt) on June 2, and takes effect on June 3, 2026," the German Embassy in New Delhi said.

"This implements a result of Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz's trip to India in January of this year. It underlines the Federal government's commitment to deepening German Indian relations, facilitating the movement of people, and further strengthening economic ties," it added.

During the visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Federal Chancellor Merz welcomed the sustained growth in bilateral trade and investment and noted that bilateral trade reached a record high in 2024, with the positive trend continuing through 2025.

India and Germany had signed a slew of agreements across sectors such as trade, technology, health and renewable energy.

According to the MEA, the two sides concluded 19 agreements and made several policy announcements aimed at deepening cooperation across strategic, economic and people-to-people domains.